Indian Spiced Kale With Potatoes – Aloo Kale

Kale is one of the toughest greens I have come across, literally. A mere glance at those woodsy stems and chewy leaves isn’t exactly inspiring. But a closer look reveals much more. Kale boasts a nutritional value second only to spinach. Belonging to the Brassica family (cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower are also members of the same family), this hardy green is rich in anti-oxidants, which may protect against cancer. So a readily available green, with so many health benefits and a lot less calories, has to be included in one’s diet.

Cooking kale to my likeness didn’t turn out to be that easy. Many recipes required just sautéing the green with red pepper flakes and garlic. No, it has to be something more than that. A mighty green as this one should stand up to robust Indian spices. The answer was with Pedatha. A recipe with greens with potatoes was to be modified to suit kale.

Before going to the recipe, I should talk about ‘Roasted Gram’ or pottu kadalai, as we call in Tamil. Bengal gram is obtained by skinning chickpeas/garbanzo. Bengal gram is then dry roasted and sold as ‘Roasted gram’ or ‘Roasted chana dal’. It is mainly used as a thickener in chutneys and curries. These buttery smooth lentils are great for snacking too.

Pedatha, in many of her recipes, uses powdered roasted gram for a creamy texture. And, kale very well needs that. Thank you Pedatha, for your inspiration and ingenious ideas. The recipes I have tried and techniques I have adapted from this book, have never failed me. Thanks to Indira for bringing this book to our perusal. So, here it is, Aloo-Kale, the second installment of 1-in-3 - Western Greens Indian Style.

Ingredients

Kale – 1 bunch
Potatoes – 2
Roasted gram – 3 tbsp
Grated coconut – ¼ cup
Ginger – 1 inch piece
Garlic – 2 cloves
Turmeric – ¼ tsp
Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
Urad dal – 1 tbsp
Red chillies – 2
Curry leaves – few
Salt
Oil – 1 tbsp

Method

Boil potatoes in salted water until done, but still firm. Peel, dice and keep aside. Prepare kale by removing the tough stalks. Chop the leaves into bite sized pieces. Grind roasted gram, coconut, ginger and garlic.

In a kadai or pan, heat oil, splutter mustard seeds. Add urad dal, red chillies and curry leaves and roast till dal turns golden brown. Add kale, turmeric and salt, cover and cook for 10 minutes, stirring in between. When kale is 3/4th done, add potatoes, coconut mixture and continue to cook on low flame, sprinkling water when necessary. After 5-7 minutes, when kale is fully done, check for seasoning and serve with roti or rice.